I felt my internal radar perk up. Jake was a two-bit actor—guys like Pines were way too high up the Hollywood food chain to waste their time on him. So, what was the common bond that prompted Pines to buddy up with the likes of him? An affinity for kiddie porn, perhaps?

“Did Jake talk about Pines?”

She cocked her head to the side. “Sure. Just the normal stuff. How he was a great director. How the film was going to be phenomenal once they were done.”

Hmmm…If they had bonded over something shady, it was clear Jake hadn’t shared it with his wife. “How long had you and Jake been married?”

“About seven years.”

I did a low whistle. Wow. In Hollywood that constituted a silver anniversary. Any marriage that lasted longer than six months was considered a success in this town.

“Can you tell me what happened on the night he…passed,” I said, trying to sound as compassionate as possible.

She licked her lips, pulling her robe tighter around her middle. “I was at a party. A friend’s birthday. Jake had planned on going with me, but he got an audition for the next morning, so he didn’t want to be out late. Instead, he said he was going to go over his lines, then get to sleep early.” She licked her lips again. “I should have stayed with him.”

“I’m sorry, I know this must be hard.”

She nodded. “I’m still not used to him being gone, you know? Like, any second I just expect him to walk in that door. I have to remind myself every day that he won’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, at a loss for what else to say. I couldn’t imagine loving someone that much, then having him suddenly taken away like that. I could tell by the look in her eyes that what she’d felt for her husband was something much deeper than I’d ever experienced. Sure, I loved Aunt Sue, but this was a whole different kind of being wrapped up in someone. And, even though it was currently breaking Alexis Mullins’s heart, I couldn’t help feeling just a little jealous that she’d known that kind of connection, albeit briefly.

“Shouldn’t you be writing this down?”

“What?”

Alexis pointed a finger at me. “For your book. Shouldn’t you be writing this down somewhere?”

“Oh. Uh…” I looked to Cal for help.

Unfortunately, he just raised one eyebrow at me, as if daring me to come up with a good lie to get out of this one. What women saw in the strong, silent type, I’ll never know.

“Uh…I’m recording it,” I said, quickly pulling my pocket recorder out and holding it up. I hoped she didn’t notice it was switched off.

Luckily, she didn’t. “Oh. Right.”

“You don’t mind, do you?” I asked her.